When I first read about the Leica Q, I dismissed the camera. Leica seemed to be bringing out AF fixed lens cameras which didn’t stand up to the reviews. I expected the Q to do the same. Slowly, the reviews started to come through on this camera – amazing AF, great ISO, superb image quality. Intrigued I played with a demo version thanks to the guys at Leica Manchester and was hooked. The camera felt so nice!

I’m a wedding photographer, but love to shoot street. I believe street photography is the closest to “training” a documentary wedding photographer can get (see my post on shooting street to improve your wedding photography). I own a Leica M6, but most of my street work is digital, and I currently shoot with an XT1 with the 18mm lens (27mm equivalent in full frame) and 35mm (50mm equivalent). I’ve also shot with the X100, Xpro1 and Olympus OMD system.

I decided I could squeeze the Leica Q in my wedding camera bag, and after placing my order I waited 5 weeks for mine. I just had to sell a few fuji and Nikon lenses to help fund it!

After a couple of days practising on Noah, my little boy – I jumped straight into wedding photography with it. I’ve now shot 5 using the Q paired with the fuji system, I use the Q around 70% of the time. I’ve yet to process my Q weddings (busy time of the wedding season!) – so cant share any yet, but I will have a blog post up (*now live here*) in the next couple of weeks with sample images.

I recently went to Paris for a coupe of days with my wife Laura. Along with eating lots of nice food (and drinking a good amount of wine) I grabbed a few frames with the Q. Its size and how it feels in the hand – perfect. I use a gordy camera sling/strap and its perfect for carrying this little camera. There are lots and lots of technical review on the camera, so I’ve not gone into detail. In a nutshell, my experience…

• The AF is immense, rarely misses focus and super quick.
• High ISO is brilliant, 64,00 looks lovely, and I’d happily shoot at 12,500. But its noisier than the Nikon D750 at the very high end.
• Manual focusing is perfect. Many of the shots below are zone focused.
• The EVF is better than the XT1. Although I do find the eyecup lets lots of light in when there is direct sunlight, and I have to use my hand to shield it.
• Battery life is as bad as the XT1 – you need a few spares.
• The image files are just lovely.

I’ll post more thoughts soon, but for now, a few of my favourite Leica Q Street Photography from Paris. Processed in LR from the DNG files.

*update – a review of wedding photography with the Q now live here*

 

Training … wedding and street photography 1:1s availible